Bring your drum this Sunday!
There will be interactive musical moments in our service this Sunday, June 20th when all who are willing and able will be invited to play along with a drum, shaker, or other percussion instrument. If you have a drum or other percussion instrument at home, please bring it to church this Sunday! If you don’t have anything to bring, I’ll have plenty of extra instruments on hand for those who need to borrow one.
Music Notes – Sunday, June 20th:
This Sunday’s musicians are Eldreth and UUCC Music Director Mike Carney
Opening Hymn: #346 Come, Sing a Song with Me – McDade
#346 in our Singing the Living Tradition hymnal, “Come, Sing a Song with Me” is a well-known and beloved hymn to many Unitarian Universalists. The words and music were written by Carolyn McDade (b. 1935), a self-described songwriter, spiritual feminist, and social activist. McDade is also the composer of two other UU favorites: “Spirit of Life” and “We’ll Build a Land”.
Centering Music: Floating – Eldreth
Today’s centering music is a piece called, “Floating” an original composition for solo guitar. By Eldreth. A member of UUCC, singer/songwriter and guitarist Eldreth (aka Robert McDonald) has been singing since preschool, playing guitar since junior high, and writing his own songs since high school. He sang in the Columbus Boys’ Choir while in elementary school and later with The Singing Angels. He sang in school and church choirs from an early age and played with several bands before he began to perform as a solo singer-songwriter. Eldreth has played in many venues, including the New Orleans Jazz Fest, the Summer Solstice Festival in Stonehenge, England, and in numerous social justice events and demonstrations across the U.S. He has opened for many other musicians, including Richard Thompson, Bunny and the Wailers, and Jimmy Cliff.
Offertory music: Wing Feathers – Traditional/Eldreth
“Wing Feathers” is a composition for voice and guitar. The words are based on a traditional Arapaho chant, set to original music by Eldreth.
Closing Hymn: #78 Color and Fragrance – Čapek
#78 in our Singing the Living Tradition hymnal, “Color and Fragrance” was written by Norbert Čapek, a Czech author, poet, activist and minister who brought the Unitarian movement to his native country. Most modern UUs associate “Color and Fragrance with flower communion, a much-loved UU tradition that was first celebrated by Čapek with his home congregation in 1923. The song is defined by its sweet and simple melody and by its lyrical message of hope and promise, both in the beauty of nature and in humankind’s capacity for love and compassion.
Postlude: Alleluia – Carney
“Alleluia” is a circle song that is built around certain melodic and rhythmic elements written by UUCC Music Director Mike Carney, but the song is also intended to be participatory and open to improvisation, so that no two performances are alike. The overall mood is joyful and the simple, single-word refrain is meant to give participants more freedom to harmonize and improvise as the spirit moves them.
–Mike Carney, UUCC Music Director
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